The impacts of the industrial revolution

Coal, oil and gas collectively termed fossil fuels offered levels of energy production previously undreamed of, leading to shifts towards factory-based systems and the mass production of goods such as cotton. Fossil fuels, principally coal at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, were primarily used to generate steam power and electricity, but their applications were vast, with many industries becoming automated, hence increasing their output. In the search for a better standard of living, many people moved from the countryside to the cities to find work in the new factories. The burning of fossil fuels led to a massive increase in urban air pollutionalthough most people felt that such a disadvantage was not significant in the context of their new found prosperity.

However, although Engels wrote in the s, his book was not translated into English until the late s, and his expression did not enter everyday language until then.

Credit for popularising the term may be given to Arnold Toynbeewhose lectures gave a detailed account of the term. This is still a subject of debate among some historians. Important technological developments The commencement of the Industrial Revolution is closely linked to a small number of innovations, [24] beginning in the second half of the 18th century.

By the s the following gains had been made in important technologies: Textiles — mechanised cotton spinning powered by steam or water increased the output of a worker by a factor of around The power loom increased the output of a worker by a factor of over The adaptation of stationary steam engines to rotary motion made them suitable for industrial uses.

Iron making — the substitution of coke for charcoal greatly lowered the fuel cost of pig iron and wrought iron production. The steam engine began being used to pump water to power blast air in the mid s, enabling a large increase in iron production by overcoming the limitation of water power.

It was later improved by making it double acting, which allowed higher blast furnace temperatures. The puddling process produced a structural grade iron at a lower cost than the finery forge. Hot blast greatly increased fuel efficiency in iron production in the following decades.

Invention of machine tools — The first machine tools were invented. These included the screw cutting lathecylinder boring machine and the milling machine. Machine tools made the economical manufacture of precision metal parts possible, although it took several decades to develop effective techniques.

Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution British textile industry statistics In Britain imported 2. The work was done by hand in workers' homes or occasionally in shops of master weavers.

In raw cotton consumption was 22 million pounds, most of which was cleaned, carded and spun on machines.

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Value added by the British woollen industry was Cotton factories in Britain numbered approximately in In approximately one-third of cotton cloth manufactured in Britain was exported, rising to two-thirds by In cotton spun amounted to 5.

In less than 0. In there were 50, spindles in Britain, rising to 7 million over the next 30 years. In tropical and subtropical regions where it was grown, most was grown by small farmers alongside their food crops and was spun and woven in households, largely for domestic consumption.

In the 15th century China began to require households to pay part of their taxes in cotton cloth.

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By the 17th century almost all Chinese wore cotton clothing. Almost everywhere cotton cloth could be used as a medium of exchange.

In India a significant amount of cotton textiles were manufactured for distant markets, often produced by professional weavers. Some merchants also owned small weaving workshops. India produced a variety of cotton cloth, some of exceptionally fine quality.

Sea island cotton grew in tropical areas and on barrier islands of Georgia and South Carolina, but did poorly inland. Sea island cotton began being exported from Barbados in the s. Upland green seeded cotton grew well on inland areas of the southern U. The Age of Discovery was followed by a period of colonialism beginning around the 16th century.

Following the discovery of a trade route to India around southern Africa by the Portuguese, the Dutch established the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie abbr. VOC or Dutch East India Company and the British founded the East India Companyalong with smaller companies of different nationalities which established trading posts and employed agents to engage in trade throughout the Indian Ocean region and between the Indian Ocean region and North Atlantic Europe.

One of the largest segments of this trade was in cotton textiles, which were purchased in India and sold in Southeast Asia, including the Indonesian archipelago, where spices were purchased for sale to Southeast Asia and Europe.

By the mids cloth was over three-quarters of the East India Company's exports. Indian textiles were in demand in North Atlantic region of Europe where previously only wool and linen were available; however, the amount of cotton goods consumed in Western Europe was minor until the early 19th century.

Earlier European attempts at cotton spinning and weaving were in 12th century Italy and 15th century southern Germany, but these industries eventually ended when the supply of cotton was cut off. The Moors in Spain grew, spun and wove cotton beginning around the 10th century.Jul 06, · The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production.

The Second used electric power to create mass production.

The Third used electronics and information technology to automate production. The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) originated from West Africa, where evidence of its use as a staple food crop dates as far back as 5, years. World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work.

Since the appearance of railways and canals, industrial revolutions have been characterized by the transformation of physical infrastructure networks as much as by production methods. Positive and Negative Effects of the Industrial Revolution Introduction to the Industrial Revolution England is first to industrialize Agricultural Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution is one of the most significant events in human history and had a profound effect on many nations throughout the world.